


The Beauty And Number Of Such Brothers

by sophia_sol



Category: The Bible
Genre: 4 Maccabees, Alternate Universe, M/M, Pseudepigrapha, Religion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-09
Updated: 2010-03-09
Packaged: 2017-10-11 16:30:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/114388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophia_sol/pseuds/sophia_sol
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He was no Eleazar, courageous in his faith. But was that so wrong?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Beauty And Number Of Such Brothers

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the book of 4 Maccabees, which isn't contained within the Christian or Jewish canon, but is nonetheless a closely related text to the bible.
> 
> I just... okay, look. Go read [4 Maccabees 8:1-11](http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=4496061), notice how much Antiochus harps on the theme of the beauty of the seven brothers, and tell me you DON'T think he's thinking lustful thoughts about them.

He looked over at his brothers, standing straight and firm in their convictions in front of the king, and couldn't help but shiver. Were they not hearing what the king was saying? Death awaited them, a long and drawn-out and painful death! It was all very well to say that if you were righteous then your immortal soul would join the ancestors, would be blessed. That would do nothing to ease the pain of torture!

It's not like he was _stupid_. He could hear plainly the subtext of the king's entreaties: renounce your religion and receive authority, stability, the friendship of the king; renounce your religion and become the king's Ganymede. But wouldn't it be worth it? A few years of humiliation and a lifetime of prosperity, versus days of abject torture that would feel like eternity.

He was no Eleazar, courageous in his faith. But was that so wrong? Eleazar was old, and would have gone to the ancestors soon anyways. Besides, surely God did not wish for all his people to die under the yoke of persecution, and how else was he to survive?

So when Antiochus Epiphanes entreated once more, he stepped forward, away from the comforting presence of his brothers, and bowed before his king.


End file.
